This Saturday, March 29, I’ll be working my way through the Touch Mudder LA course with team COLDFUSION. This will be my 6th Tough Mudder, and I’m nervous and excited. If you haven’t checked out Tough Mudder, it would be worth a look, because I think it’s the best, most compelling of the obstacle course/mud-runs available.

I’ve blogged about “opting in” and living life on occasion, and things like mud runs, 5Ks, fund-raising walks, and anything else that is goal based and can play into your workout routine is a good thing. I have been disciplined to lift weights and jog for a couple of decades now, but my Tough Mudders have given my workout just a bit more edge, made me think just a bit more about my diet (particularly as the event approaches), and contributed to me being just a bit more healthy. An orange headband and free beer with a bunch of folks who just completed the course with me doesn’t suck either. I even get a special TM Legionnaire headband in yellow, as a 6 x mudder.

As we get older, it’s easy to begin to get into a groove where we do the same things each day, see the same people, and in essence begin “checking out”. Often we make a lot of friends in high school, college and early in our careers, but as we enter the “family zone” we back off quite a bit, because we’re so busy. Down the line, it may feel a bit more difficult to make and nurture new friendships, so we begin to withdraw over time, and leave the door open to loneliness. Research has shown that a solid foundation of social interaction contributes to longevity.

One of the best ways to increase your odds of a healthy, long life, is to engage in it completely, and a solid social network is a must. As a blogger and fan of technology, I’m not against friendships via G+, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumbler, etc., as they provide a great avenue to keep in touch. However, my personal rule on sites where I actually call someone a friend is that I actually know you and/or have experienced some aspect of life with you – – so my “friends” aren’t just a bunch of strangers providing me with updates of what they’re eating.

Make an effort to keep making new friends, and to build a solid social, support network, and you will continue to be engaged later in life.

In August of last year I wrote a post titled “Being Healthy is Selfish”. Though the term selfish is typically not viewed favorably, bringing up images of spoiled, entitled, heartless narcissists, my premise is that to be healthy you must be in control of your life, your decisions and to a reasonable extent “your time”. So many of the reasons we put off going for a run, working out, or even eating right, is that we’ve continued to put the needs and expectations of others above our own needs.

When you’re playing multiple roles, and have an incredible, non-stop demand for your time by all seemingly ‘urgent and important’ things, it can often seem that there’ simply no time left for you (or your workout). Like most people, I struggle to get it all done, and I have very high expectations for myself as an employee, husband, father, and person. However, I’m not a “Yes Man”. There are times, when I have to opt out or say “no” to a request, or to the needs of someone else, so that my basic personal health needs are met. For example, I’ve been traveling from event-to-event, and in all day meetings for the last week and a half. We all know that business conferences never end at 5pm, they almost always include dinners, evening social activities, etc., and as a leader you really should be a part of these things. As an extrovert, I tend to like the social side of meetings/events anyway. However, after a 10 day period of basically travel and meetings, I had a request just come in for a dinner tonight with a vendor that is very close to my organization. My desire to say yes was more like a compulsion, but I thought for a moment, and told the vendor that I would meet with them in the coming weeks, but that tonight simply wont work. I was honest, and told them that I’ve had large, planned evening dinners for the better part of the past 10 days, and that I simply needed to tend to some things. Now, over the past 10 days, I have done my “hotel room workout” with sit-ups, push-ups, crunches, lunges, squats, etc., and I’ve worked in a few runs along the way, but I really haven’t had 2 hours to get a really good workout in. Tonight, I will. I find I have to say no to my family, friends, colleagues and vendors from time-to-time, to manage my own balance, remain healthy, and in the long run deliver better on their needs, because my energy is up. When you give up the bottom levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs because you always put the needs of others over yourself, it’s not healthy.

Don’t be a “Yes Man” or “Yes Woman”, always find a way to make yourself and your health a priority that matters.

I just read a quick on-line article from ABC News titled “Deli Dilemma: Meat and Cheese Linked to Earlier Death”. Per my very long post-title, my initial reaction was “no $#*T ABC”. However, beyond the “no duh” factor, the article dose cover a few points supported by a recent study that I thought were noteworthy. Here are the the key takeaways from my perspective:

Too Much Meat & Cheese (or anything else high in fat) Isn’t Good For You. To get specific, a recent study showed those between the ages of 55 and 65, whose primary source of protein was via meat and cheese were 74% more likely to meet an untimely death.

Re-Balance Your Diet For More Plant-Based Protein Sources. Folks over 65 who increased their plant-based protein intake were 25% less likely to meet an early demise. Hello legumes!!!

The Older You Get The More Protein You Need. I didn’t know this, but increasing the amount of protein, was important as we age, so this is good to know.

Go Mediterranean. There was a comment in the article by an associated doctor noting that a “Mediterranean diet”, rich in plants, fruit, high fiber, and lean protein is the way to go. Simply, because I like Mediterranean food and how easy it is to remember this mix of elements, I thought this was worth noting.